The Idea: Make Your Own Beer Vinegar

Here's how to use up some of those leftover brews from Sunday's game: Do like Sean Brock and make your own beer vinegar. The Husk chef and general proponent of Southern food has told Food Republic all about his intense interest in vinegars, which you can make yourself by adding starter cultures to an alcoholic beverage, then letting it sit and oxidize. While we typically associate vinegar with wine, Brock says he's made it with "every kind of booze you can imagine," including PBR. Brock really dials the amp up by doing stuff like creating rice wine vinegar out of sake that he personally made from Carolina Gold rice and aging homemade vinegars for upwards of two years in whiskey casks (all of this, by the way, goes down in his garage). But for the more casual DIY enthusiast, here's the technique: Add a cup of Bragg organic raw apple cider (for its live cultures) to three cups of your beer of choice. Wrap the container tightly with several layers of cheesecloth and let it sit in a cool, dark place for 4-6 weeks. Your vinegar is ready when it tastes like, uh, vinegar. Once it's finished, reserve a cup to use as the starter for your next batch. If Brock's PBR version is that great, just imagine how good our Sixpoint Sweet Action vinegar will be in chili, skillet greens, and chimichurri come April. [Food Republic]